System and Method for Interacting with a Media Device Using Faces and Palms of Video Display Viewers

1. A method of providing user interaction with a media device, the method comprising: capturing an image of a viewing area related to the media device; detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm in the captured image of the viewing area; assigning a first vector coordinate to a location of a face; assigning a second vector coordinate to a location of a palm; creating one or more right triangles from the first vector coordinate, the second vector coordinate, and a horizontal line extending from the first vector coordinate; applying trigonometric calculations to measure an angle between the location of the face relative to the palm; and generating a control input based on the measured angle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the image of the viewing area comprises taking a picture of the viewing area using a camera device associated with the media device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the camera device is on the media device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: storing the captured image as raw data on a memory on the device; and converting the raw image data into a bitmapped image.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm comprises processing the captured image using image processing software.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the viewing area comprises an area in front of the display of the media device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media device is a television device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a control input based on the measured angle further comprises: accessing a lookup table; querying the lookup table for the control input associated with the measured angle; and selecting the control input based on the query.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: after detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm, associating the face with the palm.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein a plurality of faces are detected and a plurality of palms are detected in the image of the viewing area.

11. A media device having machine-executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, perform a method of providing user interaction with the media device, the method comprising: capturing an image of a viewing area related to the device; detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm in the captured image of the viewing area; assigning a first vector coordinate to a location of a face; assigning a second vector coordinate to a location of a palm; creating one or more right triangles from the first vector coordinate, the second vector coordinate, and a horizontal line extending from the first vector coordinate; applying trigonometric calculations to measure an angle between the location of the face relative to the palm; and generating a control input based on the measured angle.

12. The media device of claim 11 , wherein capturing the image of the viewing area comprises taking a picture of the viewing area using a camera device associated with the media device.

13. The media device of claim 12 , wherein the camera device is on the media device.

14. The media device of claim 11 , further comprising: storing the captured image as raw image data on a memory on the device; and converting the raw image data into a bitmapped image.

15. The media device of claim 14 , wherein the detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm comprises processing the captured image using image processing software.

16. The media device of claim 11 , wherein the viewing area comprises an area in front of the display of the media device.

17. The media device of claim 11 , wherein the media device is a television device.

18. The media device of claim 11 , wherein generating a control input based on the measured angle further comprises: accessing a lookup table; querying the lookup table for the control input associated with the measured angle; and selecting the control input based on the query.

19. The media device of claim 11 , further comprising: after detecting the presence and location of a face and a palm, associating the face with the palm.

20. The media device of claim 19 , wherein a plurality of faces are detected and a plurality of palms are detected in the image of the viewing area.

21. The media device of claim 11 , wherein the media device is a television.

22. A media device system comprising, a viewer capture module configured to detect a presence and location of hands and faces of viewers in a viewing area; a coordinate mapping module configured to receive data from the viewer capture module and generate mapping coordinates related to the detected locations; an angle measurement module configured to determine a relative angle between detected hands and faces, wherein said angle measurement module assigns a first vector coordinate to a location of a face, assigns a second vector coordinate to a location of a hand, creates one or more right triangles from the first vector coordinate, the second vector coordinate, and a horizontal line extending from the first vector coordinate, and applies trigonometric calculations to determine the relative angle; and a translation module configured to receive the determined relative angle and translate it into a control input.